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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Too feel like there are very few mumneters who are on minimum wage?

61 replies

Dollybird86 · 27/06/2014 21:39

I know that there probably are lots of you out there but it seems like there a lots of frugal people and people who have to budget but this is due to life being fecking expensive not being on 6.50ph ( if your lucky).

Me and dh are both low earners dh works full time I'm currently on Mat leave we are considered "working poor" we currently live in the north as living in London crippled us completely. I'm not degree educated but dh is but it's not a very useful degree, I honestly never see us earning anymore that we do now and it feels deathly depressing!

Does anyone else feel this way?

OP posts:
MrsWinnibago · 27/06/2014 21:44

Well yanbu.

Things are extremely expensive at the moment. DH works full time but earns little and I work part time and earn little. We're in council accomodation so it's very cheap compared to what others have to pay in private rental but still, we struggle.

I can't believe how shops are charging so much more than recently.

exWifebeginsat40 · 27/06/2014 21:44

i'm on benefits. it sucks.

i can't say i've given any thought to the financial status of other posters.

mytwoblackandwhitecats · 27/06/2014 21:47

I am at the moment juggling a bit of supply teaching with minimum wage work and it's very difficult, I work very hard for very little money.

Pumpkinpositive · 27/06/2014 21:47

Without knowing what others posters' hourly rate is, I do get the impression that a lot of them are really, really struggling. Sad

Is it possible your DH will be able to use his degree as a springboard to something better paying?

MammaTJ · 27/06/2014 21:48

I'm a student, so on less than MW. DP earns around £14,000 a year, so not great either, but good for round here.

It's shit being skint, but will be worth it in the end!

crazynanna · 27/06/2014 21:49

I am a PS worker, so yes, I suppose I am working poor

mumtosome61 · 27/06/2014 21:49

I'm on minimum wage/government support.

OH is on around 28k but works 55 hours a week!

Etah · 27/06/2014 21:49

Hi.
We are both low earners and it is getting worse as I am reducing my hours on one job and due to start another one, still only few hours on another job, and hopefully will be able to keep both jobs.
Dh works full time in a very demanding position but if he decides to do the maths he will realise that he actually earns less than minimum wage as he does a lot of overtime that isn't paid.
We live modestly with no luxuries, not even a car or mortgage and only 1 child. Space is also tight as we can't afford rent on a bigger home, garden etc...
But we are healthy, so I try and concentrate on this.

Fairylea · 27/06/2014 21:50

We're a low income family. Dh works in retail management for about £15k and I stay at home due to health reasons mainly so we manage on his wage alone and tax credits etc. We have 2 dc.

I do think there are more people on lower incomes than people think, I think people just don't talk about it.

Fairylea · 27/06/2014 21:51

We're a low income family. Dh works in retail management for about £15k and I stay at home due to health reasons mainly so we manage on his wage alone and tax credits etc. We have 2 dc.

I do think there are more people on lower incomes than people think, I think people just don't talk about it.

MrsVamos · 27/06/2014 21:54

Oh I bet there far more than you think.

Lots of posters don't discuss finances, so you wouldn't necessarily know.

I think a lot of us use mn as a bit of an escape from Real Life.

I also wouldn't mind betting some of the vitriol that appears on certain types of threads puts posters off discussing real life issues, or possibly asking for help.

Original poster
Dollybird86 · 27/06/2014 21:54

pumpkinpostive not really he has no real interest in its area and had too much fun at uni so didn't get a great grade.

I understand that people are struggling and that life is bloody hard, I'm just a bit Blush at our earning potential really and I can't see it changing.

OP posts:
kim147 · 27/06/2014 21:54

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Lampy · 27/06/2014 21:54

I'm on minimum wage, I work part time.

Obviously it would be lovely to earn more but it's better than nothing. I'm a single parent so get top ups via tax credits and actually don't feel too poor.

Xcountry · 27/06/2014 21:56

technically I'm probably on less than minimum wage.

kim147 · 27/06/2014 21:58

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

DragonMamma · 27/06/2014 21:58

I totally empathise as even though DH and I aren't massive earners, my role involves recruiting everybody from min wage to six figures and I do wonder how the nmw people live on such a low low wage. It's embarrassingly low that I feel almost guilty in mentioning it.

We earn about 60k between us with 2dc and whilst I know we've coped on one lower wage before, it wasn't any fun. I take my hat off to anybody who can raise a family on a low income.

DragonMamma · 27/06/2014 22:00

Oh and our bare minimum is 1.7k pcm without food or childcare...

KingJoffreysBloodshotEye · 27/06/2014 22:01

I work 24 hours a week on minimum wage (£600ish per month).

DP earns about £24K.

MoominKoalaAndMiniMoom · 27/06/2014 22:03

yanbu. OH and I are full time undergrad students, he has a min wage job and we have a baby DD. We couldn't get a council place and couldn't stay in the shared student house we were in last year, so we've had to skint ourselves in private renting. We aren't even eligible for housing benefit because we refuse to drop out of uni and spend our lives on benefits.

A lot of MNers seem a million miles away from our situation, i sometimes feel very out of touch.

Cherrypi · 27/06/2014 22:08

£15k for retail management sounds terribly underpaid. I'm lucky my husband earns good money despite having no qualifications. What proportion of workers are on minimum wage?

keepyourchinupdear · 27/06/2014 22:09

Yanbu. It's a fact that the median wage is a total unrepresentative salary (as contradictory as that seems). Surviving at that level, when you have 2 dc to look after, can at times by farking awful.

Yes, us 'poor folk' do not deserve to have a family or family life. We're pathetic peasants in the eyes of the ever deserving middle and upper classes.
Fuck 'em, I say.

Fairylea · 27/06/2014 22:14

Cherry- £15k for deputy manager positions in retail is average in our norfolk area. The store managers earn about £18 - 20k.

When I lived in London I worked in retail management myself and the salaries were hugely different. I think it totally depends on the areas etc.

Dh would love to earn more and he is a graduate but there just aren't many highly paid jobs in this area. We moved this way when I had secured one of the well paid jobs in marketing that was around at the time but 6 months later I was made redundant. I ended up working 16 hours a week for minimum wage in a hotel as that was all that was available without travelling 2-3 hours each way.

I do find it quite odd that the government seems to think all anyone on a low income has to do to improve their "lot" is to find a better, more well paid job... and these are... where? We love where we live. We just learnt to budget carefully in order to manage but of course some extra money would be nice :)

Original poster
Dollybird86 · 27/06/2014 22:20

Cherrypi I am a retail manager I DON'T earn 15k! We don't feel really poor but I guess we are use to it and just don't spend money.

Last year we earnt less than 20000 between us.

OP posts:
Original poster
Dollybird86 · 27/06/2014 22:20

Cherrypi I am a retail manager I DON'T earn 15k! We don't feel really poor but I guess we are use to it and just don't spend money.

Last year we earnt less than 20k between us.

OP posts:
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